Tensions high in Ukraine vote

Runoff results due today as voters weigh relations with Russia, Europe

KIEV: Ukrainians voted yesterday for a new president in a run-off between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich which could bring a fresh bout of instability to the country. Analysts expect a narrow victory for Yanukovich but Tymoshenko has threatened to call for protests in a replay of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" if she thinks the vote unfair.

A decisive outcome should reset the ex-Soviet republic's relations with Russia, which deteriorated under pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, and decide the speed of Ukraine's path into the European mainstream.